NH woman on oxygen dies after power cut to home

[kpete]

NH woman on oxygen dies after power cut to home

Jun 25, 6:16 PM (ET)

By KATHY McCORMACK

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A woman who needed powered oxygen equipment to breathe died after she did not pay the power bill and a utility shut off her electricity, police said Friday. State officials were investigating whether any regulations were broken.

Kay Phaneuf, 53, died Thursday at Caritas Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass. She had been in critical condition since her husband found her unconscious Monday about an hour after power was cut to their home in Salem.

"She can't survive without it," Salem Police Capt. Shawn Patten said of the oxygen equipment. "They cut the power to the house, the power to whatever machine she had went out, and that was it."

There was a backup battery on the machine, but it had not been activated, he said. Such devices often have alarms indicating when power is cut, but it wasn't clear whether Phaneuf's had one.

more:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100625/D9GIILGG1.html

[hlthe2b]

1. God.. can you imagine how her husband must feel?

The "what-ifs"....? How horrible...

[SunnySong]

2. Did they arrest the husband yet for manslaughter... there was another post

around here somewhere... its pretty clear he contributed to her death in some way.

[hlthe2b]

3. Huh?

Are you being sarcastic?

[SunnySong]

4. No read the other thread... no working back-up of any kind (power outages happen) and the

and the fact it was a medical necessity was removed form the account and of course there is the whole not paying the bill thing.

The whole thing smells like a Murder She Wrote episode.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

5. You're right.....the whole thing stinks

If I knew there was even a chance my power was going to be shut off for non-payment, I'd make sure I'd have that backup battery ready to go.

Hell, in the summer......a good thunderstorm is all it takes and that woman sounds like she would have been a goner.

[SoCalDem]

6. Power companies cannot turn off if they know there is medical necessity

There was a major "ball drop" here..probably unintentional by the power company, maybe not-so-much on the homefront:(

There are also NOTICES that go out..at least a couple BEFORE service is terminated.

Power companies WILL work with people on repayment, IF they ask..

I do not work for a power company...just have a working BS detector

[gleaner]

7. While I am not willing to call it bullshit yet ....

without more information, I can say that in Socal the power company works with you if you are a Universal Lifeline customer. My husband needs a machine to help him breathe at night. He can manage for a time without it, but it isn't easy.

We do have power outages because of storms and the Santa Ana winds and sometimes a freak accident like an explosion in a power vault. DWP maintains a 24 hour line to report outages. If you are a Universal Lifeline customer they start work in your area first and restore the power as fast as they can. They call back with estimates of how long the work takes. It is really terrifying when this happens, but I cannot fault them for their response. They also work with us and stretch the bills our over the amount of time we need to pay them. They are kind and do what they say.

The state and municipality where this woman lived I am not familiar with. Maybe they do things differently there. This is why I want to find out more before I make up my mind.